The Devil in the Woods
by StAnDiNgContrapposto
Summary: Shortly after Tooth and Claw, the Doctor and Rose land on a whim in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. Legends blur with reality, and the strength of their relationship is tested in ways they never saw coming. 10/Rose. 10Whump.
1. Impaired Judgement

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, I do not own the song, "I Melt With You" by Modern English, and I do not own the New Jersey Devil or its folklore.

A/N Okay, so this is a brand new story. It's been bugging and nipping at my ankles for a few months now! I got tired of the dry heat and sands of Triangle so I decided to switch gears.

If you do not know about the New Jersey Devil, it's a weird story and I will be twisting it a LOT in my story here so if you're interested, google it!

This story will be set between Tooth and Claw and School Reunion.

And yes I have an obsession with pie and Doctor whump.

* * *

**The Devil in the Woods **

Chapter One: Impaired Judgment

Rose clutched at the Doctor's bare back, her eyes hooded with desire. The TARDIS was quiet except for the rustle of bed sheets.

It hadn't taken her long to accept this Doctor as her own, she thought vaguely. It had been a week on her timeline since the Sycorax invasion and Rose had fallen head over heels harder for the Doctor than ever before. It must be the hair. She pulled it gently and he uttered a small, throaty noise of encouragement.

He had informed her earlier over tea that because he had been born in her presence he had, like a newborn chick, grafted to her, and now couldn't bear to be separated from her. Depression and hints of the deep-seated anger within showed through when she would leave the TARDIS to visit her mum without him.

Rose hadn't meant to give in to the look in his eyes, and she felt sure that he hadn't meant to betray those feelings, but one thing had led to another, and before they had known it, their tea had gone cold and forgotten.

Scratch that. Rose's alarm hit frequencies that surely the rest of the galaxy at least could hear. Her clock was set to her own timeline to ensure continuity.

She slammed an arm on the offending object, managing to hit the correct button in the process. She sat up with a sigh, her disheveled hair sitting in a loose ponytail high and crooked on her head.

She got out of bed with determination, showered, and dressed quickly. She had work to do.

* * *

Hours later, Rose swept hair out of her eyes as she bent over the recipe sheet. Meringue left her fingers and stuck in her hair to join the butter and flower that smeared her visage. She wore track pants and a t-shirt that stated: "I love New New York."

Her lips moved as she read the recipe for what felt like the thousandth time.

As much as she tried to make her brain work, the layers of debris that littered the TARDIS kitchen was discouraging and would not let her focus.

She half-heartedly gave the slimy egg whites a poke with her spatula. Banana Meringue Pie had seemed like a good idea—easy in fact, when she and the Doctor had come back from a cooking lesson with Julia Child. Now she lay amidst the shattered dream that she could perhaps do something special for the Doctor.

_Who am I kidding?_ She thought derisively. _He'd probably be just as happy if I chucked a banana at him never mind the meringue. _

"Moving forward using all my breath, Making love to you was never second best!" The Doctor's cheerful singing could be heard from the console room down the hall.

Rose raised her eyebrows. "Hope he's not singing about the TARDIS." She muttered with a shudder. That was a mental image she could do without.

She heard a clanking coming from the console followed by a stream of consciousness that could only be the Doctor as he verbally purged his mind. She smiled fondly as she listened to the manic rant, only occasionally able to pick out some phrases such as "rancid needle squall" and "Madeleine Albright."

Soon the ranting was replaced with the song he had been singing and Rose knew he must have solved whatever problem he was fixing at the console.

"I made a pilgrimage to save this human race. What I'm comprehending a race that long gone by…"

She began to notice that his singing was growing louder and hurriedly tried to hide the bowl and a dozen or so bananas into a near by cabinet.

Too late.

"I'd stop the world and melt with you! Dun dun dun dunnn dundun!" The Doctor, clothed in his brown pin striped suit, skidded into the room, his eyes wide with excitement. "You've seen the difference and it's getting better all the time!"

"Whoa there, Crazy Eyes!" Rose couldn't help but grin at his manic face as he pulled himself up to sit on the counter in one fluid motion.

Rose looked up at the Doctor and sighed. "Surprise…?" She

"I can hear a banana being peeled twenty years away, Rose Tyler. There was no way you can possibly hope to surprise me that way." He popped a slice of banana in his mouth and smiled warmly at her.

"Well, surprised or not, it's not going well." Rose reached for a bottle of white wine and took a swig. "Not very classy I know."

"Nonsense. Hand it over." He took the bottle and gave a hearty swig. "Best part of cooking, eh?"

Three bottles later, and five catastrophically unsuccessful pie attempts later, the Doctor and Rose were seated on the kitchen floor. The Doctor, his jacket and tie missing, splayed his legs, his hands limp on his thighs, and leaned his head back against the cupboard. Rose was situated nearby in the corner of the two counters, one leg over the Doctor's, the other knee raised and leaning against the counter.

"And well, you know how it was when the black chiffon landed on the Queen's marmoset –it all went to hell." The Doctor's eyes were unfocused but shone with vague humor as he gazed at the wall of the TARDIS.

Rose nodded as though she understood and shook her head when the Doctor offered her the bottle. He drained it and placed it down on the floor.

"I'm drunk." He announced suddenly. " And I don't get drunk." With a groan he slid down the wall to lie on his side.

Rose slid her leg out and nudged his bottom with her barefoot.

"No thank you not today." Was his response when his whole body moved at Rose's prodding and his shoulders began to shake.

"What's funny?" Rose said, grinning. She leaned forward and climbed over his legs. She lay on top of him and reached a finger to poke his nose. His eyes were closed but he was trying to hold in his laughter. Rose could feel herself shaking from his movement.

"I don't get drunk." He said firmly and looked up at her. "I can't be drunk."

"You're so drunk. You're so drunk you don't even think your drunk. You're so drunk you fell off the floor."

He laughed harder. "You're so drunk, you're using me as a bed. Rose… get up, I need a slash." He slurred. He turned on his back gingerly and Rose followed to lay on his chest and between his legs.

"I could go to sleep right here, this bed's comfortable."

"Is it?" He asked in genuine shock.

"Mmhm." She nestled her face in his chest.

"Hate to make you uncomfortable but you're on my bladder." Came his constricted voice. He extracted himself from below her and stumbled to the toilet.

"Don't you have a… I dunno, bladder bypass system or summat?" She grumbled to herself. Rose rolled onto her back and gazed up at the ceiling. It looked much like the console room's wall. "Doctor, tell me a story."

"From the toilet?" Came his voice.

She giggled and rolled on to her stomach to see that the door was open and that the Doctor had his back to her as he stood before the toilet. "I don't think I knew you peed." She said with another giggle. "Time Lords pee?"

"Been wondering when your curiosity would rival you perverted mother's. 'Course I use the toilet, I drink and eat don't I?"

"Tell me a story, Doctor, please?"

"You won't even remember it when you wake up." He pointed out as he flushed and zipped his fly. "What kind of story?"

"Something scary." She rolled onto her back again and listened to him washing his hands.

"I'm too drunk to tell stories."

"Rubbish. I bet you tell your best when drunk." She looked up to see him above her. "I don't even think you're as drunk as your pretending."

"A scary story, eh?" He sat down against the wall and reached foreword to tug a piece of her hair and she grinned, shifting so that her head was in his lap.

"Please?"

"Ever hear about the New Jersey Devil?"

Rose shook her head.

"Well," The Doctor started dramatically. "There is a place in your time in the U.S. called the Pine Barrens in southern New Jersey…" He broke off with a distant look in his eyes.

"Yeah… and…" Rose nudged him and he looked at her with a lopsided grin.

"Wanna take a trip?"

"I'm drunk, and you're a little tipsy, do you think that's smart?"

"2010 New Jersey is the safest place in the world! Well, I imagine it is." He sprang to his feet and helped her to hers. The Doctor clutched at her arms to help steady her. "Sober up! Off we go!" Holding her hand, he ran to the console room and began entering coordinates.

The TARDIS had only just begun its usual shaking when both the Doctor and Rose fell from their unsteady feet.

Rose giggled and leaned to the side to grab the Doctor's arm. "Driving under the influence is illegal, you know."

The Doctor waved a dismissive hand but the TARDIS stilled before he could answer. "We're here! You might want to put some warmer clothes on."

* * *

When the door of the TARDIS opened, Rose stepped out into a definitive winter wonderland.

"Good place to land. The TARDIS says we are somewhere near Atsion Lake." The Doctor commented as he stepped out behind her. The field stretched vastly before them in all directions. The trees in the distance could be seen, dark and ominous, on all sides.

"Not exactly like the Christmas pine trees I pictured." Rose pointed out, looking at the trees in the distance. They were thick trunked and warped around large bare patches near the bottom. Toward the top, the pined branches stretched out at odd angles, tangling in the other trees and shadowing the forest bed.

Snow crunched beneath their feet as they walked toward the nearest group of trees.

A dog's bark pierced the crisp air.

"This place feels creepy." Rose said softly as the Doctor strode ahead of her. "Like there's something not right."

"A sixth sense?" The Doctor called out to her from ahead, his keen ears not failing to surprise her. "Or is it the alcohol?"

"Probably a little of both."

A piercing sound like a gun shot split the air and the Doctor fell with a cry.

"Oh my God," Rose breathed and ran to him.

"Stop! _Stop!_" The Doctor yelled, holding out a hand from his seated position in the snow.

Rose skidded to a halt, obeying him, but not understanding why. "Doctor….were you… have you been… shot?"

The Doctor gave her a confused look. "No, I haven't been shot. Not all Americans have guns, you know."

Rose shrugged. "What's happened then?"

"The ice broke." The Doctor leaned forward to pull at his leg with both hands and grunted with pain. Now Rose could see that his leg, beneath the snow, was quite effectively trapped.

"Ice, what ice?"

"Rose, don't move, don't even breathe. The ice could shatter at any second. We didn't land _near_ Lake Atsion. We landed _on_ Lake Atsion."

* * *

I do love a good cliff hanger. Hope you like this so far, please tell me what you think!

Also, stay tuned for the last chapter of Triangle, which will be up shortly.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Rescue

A/N I know, I know I said I'd update the other stories first but I promise I DID work on both of them! I just got distracted with this one! Sorry for the long chapter… I could have ended the chapter sooner but as you will see that would have resulted in a horrendous cliff hanger and I figured I should probably take pity on you guys.:)

Thank you so much to:

Miles333

Laura x Tennant

Snow'sLuckyCat

Hawkeye4077

Kathryn Shadow

TimeLadyofthePings

By the way, Atsion Lake in real life is not much like how it is in my story. I'm taking inspiration from South Jersey—the geography and the legends, but it is not all specific to one location therein.

Chapter Two: Rescue

Rose could only stare at the Doctor, letting out her breath in a slow steady puff of vapor into the cold air.

His back was to her as he struggled to slowly remove his leg.

"Doctor... Are you hurt?" She craned her neck as far as she could but she could only vaguely see that his leg was stuck.

"We need to get back to the TARDIS." He said fishing his sonic screwdriver from his breast pocket. He brushed the snow away around him and Rose could clearly see the ice that lay beneath the snow.

The sonic screwdriver buzzed briefly. Reaching both hands to his knee, he tugged at his leg and froze as a bloom of red erupted under the ice.

Rose gulped and slid her purple converse trainer slowly and carefully over the snow, holding her breath as she leaned her weight down for another step. Slowly she was creeping closer to the Doctor.

"Rose! I told you, stand _still_!" The Doctor could hear her movements and Rose froze again. "This water is cold and when I say cold, I don't mean refreshing-cool-drink-on-a-hot-summer's-day cold, I mean, epic-titanic-knives-all-over-your-body cold. The ice is thinner over here. Should be able to melt the edges while stabilizing if I can just—" The sonic screwdriver whirred again and with an all mighty crash, the ice around him broke and he disappeared in a whir of ice and water.

"Doctor!" Rose moved as fast as she could over the ice, knowing that if she fell in too, she would be of no help.

As she reached the edge, Rose could only see his heavy brown coat, buoyant with an air pocket, before settling and sinking over the Doctor's flailing arms. She lunged to his shape with one bare hand poised on the ice, the other plunging into the water, searching desperately for any part of him. Her hand burned in the water as though she had put it into fire instead of water. Looking wildly around her, she spotted the sonic screwdriver sitting just on the edge of the ice, in danger of slipping into the dark water. The Doctor must have dropped it when he fell through. Rose withdrew her hand from the water and snatched it up immediately.

A dull thud sounded from the opposite direction, and Rose spun. On sudden inspiration, she flung her arms across the ice, wiping the snow away. There. The Doctor's long, pale fingers we pressed against the ice. It was thicker in this location and Rose knew instinctively that the Doctor had thought this through.

"You swam where it was thicker so I could use the screwdriver to cut through and pull you out. Well, here goes." Praying that it worked, Rose pressed the screwdriver to the ice directly where the palm of his hand was pressed against it. Wiping more snow away with her free hand, she was able to only just make out the fragmented and shadowed image of his face beneath the ice. His eyes were open, staring up at the light that came from where she had removed the snow.

"It's not working fast enough!" She yelled as the screwdriver slowly melted through the ice.

She pressed her face closer to the ice and matched the Doctor's panicked eyes with her own. He looked to the fingers of his right hand and she followed his eyes. Striking three fingers out, he pressed the tips of his fingers to the ice in two deliberate strokes.

Rose paused. "Six." She whispered, and then fumbled for the screwdriver. "Setting six. Hang on Doctor."

It was horribly quiet save for the blood rushing in her ears and the dull sounds of the Doctor's hands scraping against the ice. She looked back down at him and saw he was miming the number four this time.

As she set the screwdriver to six, the ice beneath her cracked suddenly and she let out a short shriek of surprise. She braced herself for the icy plunge but it did not happen. The resounding click of a gun being set echoed soon after.

"This is my property."

Rose did not look up, her eyes were on the Doctor as she pressed the sonic to the ice. It cut through immediately.

"Hey! Did you hear me? We don't tolerate witchcraft in these parts. Get up!" The cold barrel of a gun nudged at her throat and Rose fell back in surprised, staring up at the man who held the gun to her. He wore a plaid fleece and an orange hunter's hat. His grey beard was trimmed and tidy and his small, watery blue eyes delivered a piercing stare.

* * *

The Doctor kicked out his legs weakly but the cold and the lack of air was making his limbs lethargic. The blue light of the sonic screwdriver had disappeared and he frowned i confusion. Why had she stopped? She would not haven given up, it was not in her nature, something or someone must have stopped her. He was sinking, and though he tried to swim up, the water felt like concrete. His respiratory bypass would not last much longer.

The blue light appeared again over the ice. Against his will, his screaming lungs were telling his mouth to open, to breathe. He shook his head frantically and made on last struggle with his flailing limbs before his mouth opened involuntarily. The water entered his lungs immediately and he reflexively choked, drawing more water in. His hearts were fluttering rapidly then began to slow. _Cardiac arrest. _The Doctor thought sadly. _And there's so much I haven't seen._

* * *

"P-please!" She stammered, her eyes darting from the water to the man's eyes. "My friend fell through the ice, he's trapped and I think he's hurt."

The man paused to consider her. "No witchcraft? You aren't praying to the devil, missy?"

"No!"

"Then what's that in your hand?"

"It's… it's a toy. Thought it could help."

"Foolish girl." The man lowered his gun. "It's dangerous here on my lake. Thought you were doing Satan's business out here."

Rose lunged for the cleared patch of ice where the Doctor had been but she could no longer see his form. She glanced briefly behind her at the man, and then pulled the sonic screwdriver out. Turning it on, she pretended to hack at the ice with it, all the while, letting the sonic cut through.

Finally, when she had a hole large enough for a man to pass through, she plunged her face into the water and opened her eyes.

The pain was intense. Her initial reaction was to shut her eyes immediately, but she forced them back open even though she felt as though she could go blind with pain.

Praying that the sonic screwdriver was waterproof, she switched it on and the blue light penetrated a short distance in the water. She caught a glimpse of the Doctor's hair rippling in the water. The blue light shone eerily on his pale skin and closed eyes, making his eyebrows, lashes, and hair seem black in contrast. Knowing it was too heavy, he had shed the brown coat he loved so much. His jacket floated above him, held by his sleeves. He was too far to reach without diving in. She made to leap in, prepared to submerge herself in the painfully cold water, when she felt a hand clasp her ankle, dragging her out of the water and back on to the comparatively warm snow. Her eyes burned and streamed from the cold water but she yelled all the same. "Let go of me! Let go! My friend, I see him, he's down there, he's..."

"It's too dangerous. You go down there and you won't find this opening in the ice again, I guarantee."

"Says the man who had a gun to my head. What do you care how dangerous it is? Let me _go!_" Aiming at the man's hands which were still holding her ankle, she flicked the sonic screwdriver.

The man released her with a cry of pain. "Witchcraft!" She heard him hiss as she dove back down into the water, her hand clasping the screwdriver as tightly as humanely possible.

Searching around with the light of the screwdriver, she found his ghostly face again. _Respiratory Bypass_. She chanted it in her mind over and over again as she swam closer. The frigid water was so paralyzing that she had to remind her limbs how to move. Her legs seized up with cold but her sheer will to get to the Doctor forced them to move, though it was a pain that she had never before experienced. She wouldn't be able to survive in this temperature much longer, she knew. Her knowledge of the Doctor's supposed superior biology was small comfort.

She was closer now, and her lungs would not last much longer. Her outstretched hand brushed his jacket, then his hair, and then finally, his cold face, his neck, his shoulders…

She looped her arms under his armpits and his head floated forward to rest against her shoulder. Something gold flickered in his jugular. He was trying to regenerate. It smoldered briefly beneath his skin but was quickly snuffed out. Rose felt sure that the heat of regeneration could not happen in freezing temperatures.

_Please work. _She chanted silently as she aimed the sonic screwdriver upward. She pressed it on, and a large diameter of the ice far above shattered, breaking into dozens of smaller pieces. They were both sinking farther and faster and Rose fought to keep the Doctor from floating away. Hooking her leg around his, and pressing her free hand to the back of his head, she made sure their bodies were thoroughly entwined. Remembering the last number he had mimed from beneath the ice, Rose hoped with every ounce of her being that it was the right one, and set the screwdriver to four.

As soon as she pressed the button, she could feel herself and the Doctor being slowly magnetized up. She clutched him tighter to her, fearing that the movement would jostle him from her and very nearly lost him as the momentum of the screwdriver in her hand pulled her. They were approaching the surface faster, and Rose hoped it was fast enough for both of them. Her lungs ached and burned and her legs, wrapped around the Doctor's, were stiff and frozen, though thankfully locked in place around him.

Finally, they burst through the surface, showering ice and water around them. Rose took an enormous breath and, though her muscles screamed in protest, pulled the Doctor up so that his head was above the water.

"No, no, no." She wailed in dismay when he failed to struggle for the breath he needed. "Come on, Doctor, come _on_!" His head dipped below the surface again and, alarmed, Rose struggled to hold onto him as he sank. She firmly pressed her lips to his cold ones and exhaled as much as her lungs would allow.

"Help!" She called frantically, but the man with the gun had disappeared. Aiming the sonic screwdriver to the trees that signaled the shore, she felt herself being pulled through the water by the invisible force. Bits of broken ice struck her and the Doctor as they were pulled forcefully through. Finally, she felt her feet dragging on pebbles and wet sand. Releasing the button on the screwdriver, she found her feet and stood to drag the Doctor onto the beech.

It was a narrow, steep strip of sand, scattered with stones, pine cones, and covered in a thin sheet of snow. The mass of trees had prevented much of the falling snow on the forest bed.

Rose released the Doctor's hands. She stripped the sodden jacket from him, nudged his tie clear, and tore his shirt open. She leaned down and pressed her ear to his left pectoral. Wasting no time, she drew a deep breath, pinched his nose closed, and met his frozen lips. His chest swelled slightly with the breath.

"I'll call 911, hang on." Rose looked up in shock to see the bearded man. "He needs to go to the hospital."

If it meant they could save his life, Rose thought she may let the hospital have him, but for now she was concentrating on what she could do at present.

She exhaled again into the Doctor's mouth then hesitated, nervous to try the chest compressions that she had only ever practiced on a plastic dummy for a health module.

She linked one hand on top of the other, placing them on the Doctor's left heart, and thrust down repeatedly. She treated the other side to the same assault and the bearded man exclaimed loudly.

"You're doing it all wrong, stupid girl."

She drew another breath and blew hard into the Doctor's mouth. This time, she felt a strange tug as he drank in her air.

Pulling back at once, she found suddenly that she couldn't contain the tears that spilled over her cheeks, nor the small wail that erupted against her will as she wiped at her face. The Doctor was coughing and Rose helped to turn him on his side where he vomited the water he had consumed.

"You did it." The Doctor gasped and coughed into the ground, looking up at Rose with pride. He plucked the sonic screwdriver from her hand. "Knew you would, I wasn't too worried. You clever girl. You superseded the particle distributing function with non-polarizing iron creating a ferromagnetic material. In other words: one hell of a magnet. Rose Tyler, I could kiss you."

Rose shrugged. "It was nothing, you know. I just get that sort of stuff."

The Doctor grinned widely and tapped the screwdriver fondly to her cheek. "Or setting four, as yours truly suggested." He sat up with a groan and Rose put a helpful arm around his back.

"Take it easy." She said softly.

The Doctor stared at the ground as though concentrating on something profound.

"Doctor?"

"I'm not in a good way. I'm very, very, very cold." He said calmly as though observing that the fridge was out of milk. He turned to meet her eyes and raised a hand to touch her chin. "So are you. Rose…help me up." She stood with difficulty and helped the Doctor up, barely able to keep her own footing. "The…T-ARDIS." He slurred disjointedly. "Where is she? We need her." He made to step forward, but his leg collapsed beneath his weight and he fell on his hands into the snow.

Rose looked up to see the bearded man standing not far away, gazing at the Doctor with eyes that burned with something she couldn't quite understand. Lust? Hate? Fear? It could be any and all of those.

The Doctor tried to get up but fell back down. "My legs aren't working. I've got to... s-save you Rose. You'll be hypo...thermic"

Not taking her eyes from the man's predatory ones, she bent down to the Doctor, her arms tenderly around him. "Come on, you can do this." She said calmly into his ear. Stealing herself, she pressed her hand to his cheek and kissed the side of his mouth firmly. "Doctor, we need to keep moving."

The Doctor looked back at her with confusion written blatantly across his face. "Rose? Why am I so wet and cold?"

She swallowed as she helped him up. "Just take it slow. One foot in front of the other."

"Where are we?" He was shivering uncontrollably against her, throwing her balance off.

Her lower body was so numb that she could feel the shockwaves that each step sent up through her legs.

"The TARDIS is just up there…" Rose groaned when her eyes locked on to the familiar blue shape. It stood proudly near the center of the still frozen lake. There was no way she could risk trekking to it. The Doctor wouldn't survive another submergence and she knew she wouldn't either.

In fact, her body was telling her adamantly that she needed to sleep. Looking up at the Doctor, she saw him sag in her arms and she could not hold him as he continued to drop.

She watched as though from another body as he landed on his hands and knees in the undergrowth, then lay on his side, curling into a fetal position with his hands clasped loosely over his head.

She had been paying so much attention to the Doctor's health that she had completely forgotten about her own. All of a sudden, her vision was blotted with black smudges and her knees buckled painfully.

Rose crawled to the Doctor and, with difficulty, pried his limbs open.

"Rose." His breath rustled her hair as she burrowed herself as close to him as possible so that her chest and belly was pressed firmly to his. "I tried to regenerate."

"Hush." She said, placing a kiss on his icy chest.

"I'm too cold." His voice broke. "I can't regenerate. My body is...literally frozen."

Rose lifted a hand with much difficulty to stroke the back of his head. "Are we dying, Doctor?"

"I don't know." He said honestly.

"I love you."

There was a long pause. "If it's my last chance to say it…Rose Tyler…I…"

Rose wanted to open her eyes. She wanted desperately to hear his light tenor, however consumed with pain and fear. She found herself floating, however, with only the slow beats of his hearts against her ear to accompany her.

* * *

When Rose woke, she found herself cocooned in heavy blankets and various plasters around her extremities. She lay in a warm room with rich paneling, and a crucifix hanging on the wall directly before her. A midday sun shone from a nearby window and the snow that lay on the pine branches outside served as a harsh reminder of what had happened. She was clothed in only a large flannel shirt that stretched to her knees.

"Doctor?" She sat up slowly, gingerly removing a hot water bottle that she had been placed under her arm.

"You're awake." A woman's voice.

Looking beside her, she was surprised to find the Doctor in the large bed beside her and an old woman with frazzled hair, bent over his bare outstretched leg.

Rose's eyes flicked to his face. He was sleeping peacefully and he too had quilts and blankets piled high across him.

"I'm afraid we didn't have much to clothe you two in. This is our winter home and Ed and I pack light. We needed to get you out of those frozen clothes."

"Who are you?" She asked the woman as she taped cotton around the wound beneath his knee, then began to wrap it with gauze. The Doctor seemed clothed in similar flannel pajama bottoms.

"Anne Delany. My husband found the pair of you frozen to death under the rhododendron bush. Said he almost walked right by, didn't see you until the dog sniffed you out. I still have to tend the young man's hands, then I'll refill your hot water bottles."

Rose lifted the blankets to draw the Doctor's arm out slowly. His hand was gruesomely lacerated from the ice, and the tips of his fingers were swollen red with frostbite. She looked down at her own hands and found that a few of her digits had been bandaged. "How long have we been here?" She stroked the Doctor's arm in an unconscious effort to calm herself.

"Since yesterday evening. It's not safe here at night. Not anymore. Ed was on his evening round, checking all was well on the property when he found you and thank the lord he found you before nightfall."

"Why is that?"

"The devil doesn't like me talking about him." She signed the cross over her chest then leaned forward to draw a cross on the Doctor's forehead. She looked pointedly at Rose who hesitated and hurried to copy her. "He's in our community. He's in our woods. People have gone missing. Animals turn up dead…drained of blood some of them, or mutilated."

"Oh my God." Rose stared out the window. A pine branch was scratching against the window as though wanting to come in.

* * *

A/N So I took mercy. I meant to have a killer cliff hanger but decided instead to make it an extra long chapter.

Hope you are all still enjoying it, please let me know what you think!


	3. Curiosity

I'm not even going to try to make excuses-it's been a crazy summer and I can only sincerely apologise for the agonisingly slow update and hope you will continue reading. Thanks:)

Thank you so much for the reviews from the last chapter!

Just a quick recap to jog your memory.

The Doctor and Rose landed in the Pine Barrens in the dead of winter. The Doctor fell under the icy lake, Rose saved him despite the questionable stranger who calls the sonic screwdriver witchcraft. They were both rescued from nearly freezing to death in the snow by an older couple.

_ Previously:_

_"The devil doesn't like me talking about him." Anne signed the cross over her chest then leaned forward to draw a cross on the Doctor's forehead. She looked pointedly at Rose who hesitated and hurried to copy her. "He's in our community. He's in our woods. People have gone missing. Animals turn up dead…drained of blood some of them, or mutilated."_

_"Oh my God." Rose stared out the window. A pine branch was scratching against the window as though wanting to come in._

* * *

Chapter Three: Curiosity

Rose watched as Anne Delany took great care in tucking the Doctor's bandaged leg back under the sheets.

His clothing, along with hers, lay on an old wooden chair in the corner of the room. On top of the pile, Rose was relieved to see the sonic screwdriver. After its role in saving the Doctor's life, she would never let the instrument out of her sight again.

"I washed and dried your clothing. You two really should be at the hospital but our phone line has been down for the past week and Ed refuses to get a cell phone. Our daughter'll yell at us for not getting one. Who are you two, anyway, where are you from?"

"I'm Rose and that's the Doctor. We're from London. Just visiting, you know."

"Doctor who?" The woman said as she lifted the Doctor's arm from beneath the cover and began to clean his hand.

"Just the Doctor."

"Right pompous son-of-a-gun this young man is, making you call him by his degree."

Rose couldn't help her laughter and fervently wished the Doctor were awake to hear this. "He's not that young." She said automatically.

"Honey, a young girl like you might not think so but I'm seventy-two years old. He's just a boy."

"You might be right." Rose said, smiling fondly at the Doctor and preening his hair with her free hand.

"If you don't mind my asking… what are you doing with him? He might be a boy to me but I remember what it was like to be a young girl. You can tell me hon," Anne leaned forward in her seat, her eyes on Rose. "Does he have money?"

"No, he doesn't." She said quite honestly, and slightly offended. "He doesn't have much of anything really." _Apart from access to all of time and space._ She added silently to herself.

"Humph. Well I wish you the best." She finished bandaging his hand and began on the other. "You're welcome to stay as long as you need to. Unfortunately with the snow as high as it is and our being so far back in the woods, we don't get plowed too often so you might be stuck here with us for a while."

"Thank you," Rose said earnestly. "We'd be dead if it weren't for you and your husband."

"You're welcome." Anne said gruffly and snipped the final bandage. "It'll take a while for his wounds to heal anyway."

"He's a fast healer."

"And he still hasn't warmed as much as I had hoped he would."

Rose leaned to touch his forehead. "He's always like this. Trust me, this is normal."

"If you say so."

Hours later, Rose was sitting in a fluffy white dressing gown at a counter in the kitchen nursing a cup of tea with Anne. Only a single light was on in the softly lit house. Natural light came from the open door where the Doctor lay and Rose could not help but glance up at the room frequently.

"How many animal deaths have there been?" She asked cautiously.

"You won't let up on the subject, will you?"

"Well, you've gotta admit it's pretty attention grabbing." Rose said fairly.

"I don't want to talk about it. That's the curse. The more you talk of…_ it_, the worse off you'll be." Anne signed the cross again and walked across the hardwood floors to the bookshelf. "Here." She opened the book to a page and showed it to Rose.

"The New Jersey Devil." She read aloud then flipped the cover of the book to see its title. "Weird New Jersey." She put a hand to cover her smile and looked back up at Anne. "And this is a… reliable source, yeah?"

"It is now." Anne said darkly. She looked to the large windows in the living room, which were covered by firmly shut wooden blinds, and curtains over top. "We are trying not to advertise our presence too much. All of the lights go off at night so in this house we have an early bed time. I'm afraid space is limited so when your Doctor is awake he will have to move to the couch to sleep."

"Oh, no, he's fine." Rose said hurriedly. "I want him to be comfortable."

"Then you will take the couch?"

"Yeah, 'course."

"A gentleman wouldn't allow that."

"This gentleman better."

"My ears are burning!" The Doctor's energetic voice made both women start as he sauntered into the room, clothed in an odd combination of pajama bottoms with his shirt and loose tie. "Blimey, these jim jams are comfy, could be my new look, what do you think Rose?" He brushed an affectionate hand across the small of her back as he approached.

"I think you've escaped the looney bin." Rose smiled up at him.

"Tell me something else new." The Doctor scratched her back in response then looked to Anne. "Fixed your phone line by the way. Turns out the line runs straight under that bedroom. The electrical current hum was driving me mad while I was sleeping. All fixed now!"

Anne stared at him. "R-right. Thanks."

"Doctor, this is Anne. Anne, Doctor." Rose couldn't help her proud smile as she introduced him.

"How are you?" The Doctor held out his bandaged hand and shook hers firmly.

"I'm well, and yourself…?"

"Much better thanks to you!" He smiled warmly at Anne then looked at the book that Rose was reading. "Oooh, what have we here? Weird New Jersey? Did you know, Rose, that not only do those books become so popular that each country will have it's own 'Weird' version, but each _planet_ will? All of them just filled with …_stuff_! Humans and their legends—they can't get enough of them!"

"I-I'll go check those phone lines." Anne said, looking thoroughly worried for her safety as she stepped out of the room.

"You're scaring her." Rose whispered through her grin as she stood. "Ease up on the alien-ness, yeah?"

The Doctor grinned widely and encircled his arms around her waist. "Hello, Rose Tyler."

"Hello, Doctor." Rose grinned back up at him before he lifted and crushed her in the tightest hug she had ever experienced. She was ashamed to feel tears leak from her squeezed shut eyes. They were so tightly embraced that she could feel the double thump through his chest as though it were within her own body.

"You are brilliant, you are." He kissed her neck so lightly and quickly that Rose thought she may have imagined it. "You saved my life...again."

"Well, it was convenient and I was in the area so I thought, why not?" Her feet swung in the air as he moved from side to side hugging her even tighter.

The Doctor laughed and set her on her feet again, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. "What do you think Lewis? Something foul afoot?"

"Anne definitely seems to think so. Hard to get anything out of her though. She says the more it's talked about the worse the curse is." She took his hand and traced her fingers lightly over the red marks that remained from the cuts and frostbite he had sustained. Her slowly healing human hands still throbbed but the Doctor's were healing neatly.

"Ah, the power of word of mouth." He used his free hand to take a gulp from Rose's tea, allowing her to mother him as she fussed with his cuffs and his tie. Drawing out his sonic screwdriver from his breast pocket, he used it to push the window shade aside and peer out.

The sun was a deep shade of red shining between the trees and casting long shadows like ink stains on the snow. The Doctor looked behind him briefly for any sign of Anne, then pulled the door open.

"Doctor!" Rose hissed. "I'm in a dressing gown."

He looked her up and down. "So you are."

"I'm not dressed! I'm not going out in the snow in slippers!"

"Then don't!" He stepped into the snow easily.

"You've nothing on your feet!"

"I'll only be a tic." He motioned with his hand for her to stay put.

"If you're going out barefoot, I'll go out in slippers then."

"Blimey, make up your mind." He murmured and held up his sonic screwdriver as he stepped off of the porch and into deeper snow.

Rose shivered as she looked around at the gnarled trees. It was eerily quiet.

"Rose." The Doctor pointed and Rose followed his gaze. Dark blood was splattered in a line on the snow. The Doctor followed it through the woods, Rose trailing after.

His eyes locked on to a form and he jogged over to it.

The animal lay on its side very clearly disemboweled and quite dead.

"It's a fox." He said quietly, turning it over onto its back with the screwdriver.

"Don't touch it. It's probably diseased. Poor thing." Rose stood four metres away. "Doctor, look at this."

Approaching her, he let out a whistle of appreciation. "Now that's a beauty." He crouched down and ran the sonic screwdriver over the large print. It looked like a that of a very large owl with three long toes at least twenty centimetres long. "At least fifty percent not of this world, I'd say." The Doctor murmured cryptically.

The light was fading fast and Rose drew her dressing gown tighter around her. It was already dark enough that Doctor's body comprised of a pitch dark shape as he stood from his kneeling position.

"I can barely see you." Rose whispered and shivered. She felt his arms encircle her and she leaned into his body, thankful for his solidity.

"We should get back to the house. The temperature is dropping as we speak."

Rose tried to look up at him, but his face was completely consumed by the darkness. She raised her arms to feel his face. She could feel his breath on her forehead and his jaw tighten slightly under her touch.

Before she knew what was happening, his mouth had found hers in a hesitant kiss. She kissed him back forcefully, crushing his lips against hers. His long fingers dug into the small of her back, bringing her closer and deepening the kiss. He pressed his pajama clad hips unashamedly to her.

"Doctor." She breathed through their kiss, her voice husky with desire as he pulled her even tighter against him. Her back pressed up against a tree and she lifted one leg to wrap around his. He pulled her leg up gently and fumbled at his pajama trousers.

A rustle in the brush caused her to break the kiss. She pulled away to stare in the direction of the noise. Long dark hair ghosted past the nearly faded strip of light that remained through the trees. "Doctor." She could feel the Doctor's chest heaving against hers, his hand still cradling her thigh.

"What did you see?" He panted, his voice low.

Rose frowned. "I could have sworn I saw a woman. She's gone. Hello?" She called through the trees. "Who are you?" The Doctor pulled away and let her slide to the ground.

"Are you sure you saw a person? It couldn't have been an animal or a tree?"

Rose ventured forward. "Unless the trees here are brunettes and know how to walk…though I suppose I've seen stranger." She stumbled in the thorny undergrowth and the Doctor caught her arm to steady her.

Rose's eyes were wide, trying to see through the dark. Night had fully fallen as she climbed through the brush and her only senses were the sound of the Doctor behind her and her outstretched arms groping blindly.

"Rose. Stop. Slow down. It's too dark. _Rose!_" The Doctor lunged forward in the dark but only the tips of his fingers met her waist.

"I know I saw someone. I _know it!"_ She could feel the thorny bushes scrape through her dressing gown, snatching at her ankles and making them bleed. She stopped suddenly and paused. "Doctor?"

A true and utter silence met her senses.

"Doctor, you're scaring me." The brush rustled violently as if an animal had leaped through. Rose felt blindly around her but her fingers met nothing but cold air. The cold penetrated through her dressing gown as though she were not wearing one at all.

"_Doctor_!" Rose screamed through the darkness.

* * *

A/N ok. I hope you liked it and I promise there will not be a break like that between updates again!

Please review and let me know what you think!


	4. Captives

A/N Glass of Pinot Grigio, bag of chocolate chips—ready to get this chapter done at last. Whoever is still following this story is a saint for putting up with me!

Apparently I lied when I promised I'd update sooner… sorry about that., I truly am.

Thanks to Sanguine Ink, Snow'sLuckyCat, Dreamcatcher49, and AlexOLoughlinFan for reviewing the last chapter!

And yes, whump ensues.

* * *

Chapter Four: Captives

The Doctor fell onto a cool dirt surface, rolling upright immediately, wide eyed and wary.

"Rose?" He called upward. "I've fallen into some sort of pit or cave. Can you hear me, Rose?" He blinked, dumbfounded. His head hurt. One minute he was pushing Rose up against a tree, and the next there was nothing but darkness and he was falling. He felt a blush creep into his cheeks. What had come over him? The way he had behaved was certainly not the delicate manner of which he preferred to skirt around subjects of intimacy. It broke several of his rules in fact, least of all that of pursuing carnal pleasures in frozen woods in the dead of winter with a supposed monster knocking about.

He shook his head. Why was he still thinking of this? Surely the first in a long list of items within his mind should be his current situation. And where was Rose? Never mind Rose, which way was up and which was down?

He fingered his sonic screwdriver but even that couldn't penetrate the darkness.

"Where am I?" His voice echoed. "I'm in some kind of enclosed space. Can't say I'm not relieved I'm not floating in the recesses of my vast, brilliant mind. Wouldn't mind turning the lights on would you? Nah. Why would you? The darkness adds to the allure. Gives me shivers! You never know what's in the darkness. One thing I _do_ know: no Vashda Nerada or I'd already be dead! If you want me to think I'm going insane well here's the news for you, that interstellar orbiter has left the dock centuries ago. Besides, what better conversation can I have than with myself?"

The Doctor closed his mouth and listened to the echoes fade. He stretched his arms out and reached blindly through the air. He took what he thought were steps forward but with nothing relative to his position, he was not sure he actually was moving at all.

A light erupted in the center of his vision and he covered his eyes before forcing them to adjust as quickly as possible.

A young woman dressed in tight jeans and a plaid loose fitting shirt held a flashlight before him. Behind her he could see the roughly hewn stone that he assumed must be some kind of cave.

"Oh, hallo there. Is this _your_ cave? I'm dreadfully sorry only, the lighting is rather poor, frankly I'm surprised you haven't had more people accidently wander in during tea by torchlight. I'm the Doctor." He waved a hand but the woman only stared at him blankly.

Her face was half lit by the flashlight and the Doctor could tell she was very beautiful and probably not much older than Rose. Her long dark hair hung naturally from a loose ponytail. She approached the Doctor and ran a hand up his arm and neck to caress his cheek.

"I know I'm a handsome devil but I'd like to get to know you first." He drew out his sonic screwdriver and whirred it into her eyes. "You are not even there are you. Who are you? I want to talk to the entity that is possessing this young woman's body."

Suddenly, she dropped the flashlight and grabbed hold of his wrists with both hands. The Doctor turned the tables quickly and captured her wrists instead. His sonic screwdriver clattered into the pitch dark and he bit his lip in regret. He lowered the struggling woman's wrists and held them tightly. "Now, now, let's not get grabby—" He reprimanded then gave a grunt of surprise as several arms clutched at him from behind.

A man, his face similarly vacant came into a view twisting the Doctor's arms. The Doctor yelled as the stronger man forced him down to his knees. "You're being controlled! Someone or something is controlling you but you can break out of this, I can help you, listen to me, let me help…"

An arm went around his neck, not completely cutting off his air, but putting enough pressure on his arteries to weaken him. His hands and legs thrashed from their hold but they were swiftly bound with what felt like bailing twine. A man held him from behind. The Doctor felt the blood pound in his neck and he watched in horror at what the young brunette held before him. "No! Of all things, not that! I need to speak to the entity that is- no-no-no-no!" He found himself begging before a large amount of cloth was forced into his mouth and tied firmly in place. He felt wads of cloth shoved roughly inside his ears and wrinkled his nose as the rustling sounds were muffled then stared helplessly as she approached with the blindfold. He made throaty pleading noises but blackness had returned, this time, deeper than ever.

A painful prod in his back made him walk forward. He tripped on the twine around his ankles and, with no means of protecting himself, fell forward onto his face on the rocky ground. He was hefted to his feet by several arms and prodded again. This time he stepped more cautiously and was able to determine how much slack of twine he had between his ankles. His chin and cheekbone had split and he could feel the blood trickle down catching maddeningly on every growth of stubble until his eyes watered with the urge to scratch. A sharp prod to the ribs told him to turn. Deaf, dumb, and blind, the Doctor could do nothing but obey.

* * *

Rose stood shaking from fear and cold. "Doctor." She moaned hopelessly. She had been calling for what felt like hours. The woods were so dark, Rose had no idea of the direction they had come from. She let her hands feel ahead of her and made it to another tree. Something sticky met her fingers. Sap? _It could be blood._ Rose could not help the thought from invading her mind. _It must be sap. _She drew a finger to her nose. Iron. It was definitely blood. Her stomach churned. "Doctor." She moaned again, sick to her stomach.

Suddenly, there was an all mighty crash and Rose ducked her head, unable to prevent her scream. Every nerve in her body was on alert. She wanted to run, but she couldn't find a direction to do so. A grunt and a groan as though from a wounded animal echoed broadly through the forest. She turned around. It sounded as though its feet were pawing slowly at the snow yet the grunting breaths, as loud as a horse, came from at least eight feet from the ground.

Rose drew a shuddering breath. Tears coursed steadily down her cheeks. "My name is Rose. I'm lost, and my best friend has left me or was taken or…summat I dunno." Her voice grew more hysterical. "I'm scared something has happened to him. I'm cold and I don't think I'll survive out here."

She paused and the creature did not move. Thankfully, it made enough noise by breathing that Rose could tell where it was. Not knowing what else to do, she continued talking.

"I'm very scared right now. I'm sure you're a lovely per—horse…creature…thing. Wh-what's your name?"

Pain shot through her head suddenly making her cry out. She squeezed her eyes shut and doubled over in pain. Images paraded through her mind. Horrifying images of dead animals and frightened people sped through her mind and the creature snorted and moaned.

"Telepathy." She gasped as the images subsided. "Please. Don't hurt me. We can talk about this. My friend, the Doctor, he will know what to do." She realized her mistake far too late. Images of the Doctor were in her mind and the creature fixated on them. Her head felt as though it might split open if the onslaught continued.

Then suddenly it stopped and Rose was drifting peacefully through her mind as though asleep.

"You poor thing," She whispered with a sudden surge of empathy. "You are all alone. Like the Doctor." Her voice trembled as her emotion surged. "Like the Doctor. You are always alone. You can't help your nature. You need to kill to survive…and you're hungry. So hungry…I _must_ help you."

* * *

The Doctor shook with anger and fatigue. His body was being pummeled this way and that for hours and still there was no sign of stopping. He burned to say something. If only he could speak. The gag, tied firmly around his head, was performing its job masterfully. It stuck to his throat constantly triggering his gag reflex.

He felt the prodding implement poke at his bruised ribs again. Frustration and anger overcame him and he stopped suddenly. He swayed where he stood having difficulty keeping his balance with most of his senses suppressed. The poker jabbed again at his aching ribs and this time, he curled into himself and fell to the floor with a heavy thud. What if he simply refused to get up? Better, what if he pretended to pass out?

Something hard struck his back and he tried unsuccessfully to bite his cheek with his molars to stop from grunting with pain. As far as they knew, he was unconscious.

He tried to escape as far as he could into his mind and when he did, he was with Rose in the TARDIS feeling the elation of another solved riddle, another conquered obstacle. When the inevitable strike was delivered, he didn't feel his shoulder blade shatter. He was already slipping into true unconsciousness.

* * *

Rose put a hand to her head, peering around her in confusion. She sat up in the snow. It was dawn. Light shone through the trees, sparkling on the snow. She should have froze to death, but instead, she felt as though she had stepped from a heated room, the warmth still lingering on her skin. She looked down at her hands and stared in horror at the blood and dirt on them. Quickly, she checked herself for injuries, and, finding none, searched the surrounding areas for incriminating footprints, more blood, or any sign of a struggle.

"Nothing." She whispered to the crisp morning. "Not a trace."

* * *

Yes there are a couple parallels in my unrelated stories. Again, please accept my sincerest apologies for the late update. Please stay tuned, I'll be writing more soon.


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